Falling in Love

Over the past few months, I have fallen in love with my church.  I mean it—head over heels, completely in love!  My desire is to be a blessing and help within the church, but they have blessed me far beyond what I could have imagined.  They model the New Testament church in their love for each other and their dedication to God.  I am learning so much from them!

Last Sunday was our “Consegracion.”  The first Sunday of every month, we have our regular Sunday morning class and service and then stay after church until 6:00pm for a time of fasting, further teaching and prayer.  When I first joined the church last summer, I was afraid of these consegraciones because just sitting through a regular 2 ½ -3 hour service in Spanish was taxing.  But now, I see them as an opportunity to spend more time in the Word, in prayer and with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  I always come away feeling full.

During one of our teaching sessions last week, our pastor taught from Exodus 14, where God fights for Israel in an awesome display of His power by delivering them from the Egyptians at the Red Sea.  Then, he asked each of us to share something from our lives that we feel God is going to help us conquer.  Unfortunately, at this point, my Spanish broke down and I honestly did not understand what we were supposed to share.  I thought people were volunteering personal testimonies.

Imagine my surprise when my pastor looked directly at me and told me it was my turn to share!  (Big eyes, gulp!)  I immediately asked for further clarification and the people sitting closest to me did their best to explain the situation.  (The sweet people in this church have been so patient and understanding with me.)  The pastor gave me several minutes to think and then came back to me.  I really wanted to participate, but since I did not know several of the words that I needed, I asked if I could do it for “homework”.

Trying to be a help, the pastor shared “my” testimony for me.  He talked about how I will be going to language school next year in Costa Rica and that God is going to help me conquer learning Spanish.  While that was not what I would have thought to share with the group, I realized that yes, learning Spanish is something God is going to help me conquer.  It will take time and a lot more hard work, but God will get me through it because my desire is to be able to better communicate with the people where God has called me.

Would You Help Make this Dream Become a Reality?

In April, I was granted permission to extend my term an additional two years.  Because of this, I will be sent to Costa Rica for intensive language study for 8 months.  I leave for Costa Rica in January 2013, so between now and then, I need to raise money to cover the cost of attending language school.  I will be coming back to Montana from June 3^rd-July 19^th and I would love the opportunity to meet with pastors, individuals, friends, family, etc. while I am home to talk about what God is doing in Mexico.  If you would like to be a part in helping me learn Spanish, so that I can minister more effectively here in Mexico, you can contact me through facebook or on the comments portion of this page.  If you would like to give, there are options listed on the side of this blog.  Thank you!

Thank You!

For those of you who have been supporting me all this time, thank you so much!  I never want to miss an opportunity to say thank you because your obedience and generosity are the reasons I am able to stay in Mexico.  Please know that I appreciate your sacrifices.  It means so much to me that you stand behind me in what God is doing.  Thank you!

Ministry in a Surfing Town

The barefooted children came running down the dusty hillside path and broke through the grouping of trees at the bottom before crossing the dirt road in front of the church where we were preparing to begin VBS. A large group of children and adults gathered and patiently stood or sat around on rocks while we finished setting up. We introduced ourselves and then divided the children in to groups to play a game. And that did it! From that moment on, this was a fun place to be and the children responded with enthusiasm the rest of the week.

For one week, we (Hadingers, Chariti Parsons and I) traveled to Puerto Escondido (on the Pacific coast) and met a team of 12 who came down from Ohio. Each day the main group joined with Mexican pastors and church members, then divided into groups and went in three directions; one group to perform two different vacation Bible schools (VBS) in two churches, another group to complete construction projects at the same two churches and the third group to help with painting at a Christian orphanage in Puerto Escondido. The team worked hard and accomplished a great deal. Their flexible outlook and willingness to serve wherever needed was especially appreciated.

I had the opportunity to be a part of the VBS team. We arrived at the bamboo-sided church in Tecomate each morning to meet about 40 kids who were ready to participate in the daily activities. Their teachers, Lidia, Roberto and Chariti did a great job teaching them about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection and how that applies to them. They had opportunities to play fun games and do a craft that were also tied in to the daily theme. The kids were very attentive and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

After we finished at Tecomate, we would stop for a quick lunch at a church member’s home and then head on to Zipolite, a beach town about an hour away, to do the VBS again. The tin church in Zipolite was on the side of a hill and up a steep, twisting dirt road. There were close to 20 children in this location and they too showed their appreciation for the games, music, flight theme, etc. It was fun to see them get interested in learning about God.

The night before the team left, the pastor and his wife came by and expressed their thanks for the work done in the churches of Tecomate and Zipolite. They shared that about 2-3 years before they had been very discouraged and were not seeing fruit in their ministry. They had asked God what to do and God encouraged them by saying that there would come a time when they would begin to see fruit. Petra, the pastor’s wife, cried as she told us that she felt like this team coming and serving their churches was the answer to the promise God had made to her and her husband during their time of discouragement. She further explained that they would be changing the way they had always done children’s ministry in their churches. They had no idea that so many children would come out to a special event like the VBS, but because of the positive response; they said they will be implementing similar techniques, like the games, crafts, music, etc. in to their Sunday morning services for the children. We also later found out that Roberto, one of the teachers, felt God stir a love in his heart for future children’s ministry. It was so exciting to hear their testimony and we praised God for allowing us to be an encouragement to them.

By the end of the week, we were all tired, but it had been well worth the efforts. God proved His faithfulness daily as He gave us the strength and love we needed for the children and the ministries we were doing. I am thankful to have been included in the team and I am grateful for the people who were willing to come all the way from Ohio to help. I am also thankful for my Mexican brothers and sisters in Christ who faithfully minister on a weekly basis to the people of Tecomate and Zipolite and for the Hadingers and Chariti who have served here in Oaxaca for quite a while now.

What a privilege to be part of such a special experience!

A Word from the Herd

1 Peter 5:2-3—“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve, not lording it over those entrusted to you , but being examples to the flock.”


I’m not a black sheep, like the typical meaning of the word, but I am easy to locate from among the herd at my church. Actually, it’s the opposite problem. I’m a white sheep in the middle of a beautiful, coffee-brown herd of sheep. To say that I stand out is an understatement and while I don’t think I’ll ever quite “fit in,” I am excited to share about a recent answer to prayer in the area of relationships.

God has blessed me with willing, serving pastors in my church. The pastor and his wife, who share the responsibility of teaching and preaching, both exemplify the loving, protecting heart of a shepherd looking after their sheep. They practice prayer, forgiveness, discipline, rejoicing, worship, and purity. I have learned so much by watching their lives and I am thankful God put them in my path.

Just a few weeks ago, they invited me to come to their home for breakfast. This had never happened before and I have to admit; I was a little nervous at first. I still struggle with Spanish when conversing, so I asked my missionary mentor, Ilona, to come with me, as a back up to help with translating. I also prayed that God would open my mind to understand and my mouth to speak the words that needed to be said.

Ilona and I arrived at the meeting point on time, which was silly because we both know that time is about a half an hour more relaxed here. And to prove that point, about a half an hour later, the pastor arrived and led us to his home where his wife was cooking a delicious Mexican breakfast. They warmly greeted us, with the traditional hug, kiss on the cheek, and “Dios le Bendiga.” (God bless you.)

We all sat down at the table and the pastor explained that they had invited me to their home because they wanted to get to know me. He said they had felt negligent in pastoring me because our communication has been awkward and they do not always understand why I do things differently than others in their church. He was not being rude by saying these things, he was simply pointing out that there are cultural differences between us and that we are all trying to figure each other out. They asked me what types of ministry I used to do in the States and how God called me to ministry in Mexico. They were interested in knowing my future plans and how they could pray for me. Basically, he was politely saying that they do not quite know what to do with me, but they want to learn because I am one of their sheep and they really do care.

Hilda, my pastor’s wife, also explained that she had a shepherd/mentor in her early days of ministry who was continually busy and was not available to help when she needed her. She spoke of how difficult that had been, but that she had not wanted to be a burden to her already busy shepherd. Then, she opened her heart to me and told me that she did not want me to experience that kind of situation with her. She expressed her desire that I come to her whenever I need and that she will be available. She gave me a precious gift, her friendship and confidence.

The four of us talked and ate for over an hour and it felt like walls of misunderstanding were coming down. Since our breakfast together, there has been a new openness between us. The love and kindness they showed me was personally encouraging and the conversation also revealed ways that I can better participate in the church and hopefully be a blessing to them in return. This was a specific answer to prayer and it is so beautiful to see God joining our hearts together. Though we may look and act differently, we are all the sheep of God’s pasture and He wants us to live together in one herd, in unity.

Psalm 133:1,3b—“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”